Jonny Gould's Jewish State

197: From Soviet Shadows to Today's Campus Hate: Izabella Tabarovsky on How Anti-Zionism Targets All Jews Today

Find all of Jonny's podcasts, personal appearances and writing on Substack and support him with a coffee here. Parents, if you're about to send your child to university, how are you preparing them for it? Western campuses aren't all what they used to be. In this powerful conversation, I meet the brilliant Izabella Tabarovsky — a leading scholar on Soviet antisemitism and anti-Zionism, and author of Be a Refusenik: A Jewish Student’s Survival Guide. Izabella grew up under the Soviet system, where 'anti-Zionism' was the official line — and it quickly turned into suspicion of all Jews, Zionist or not. "Jews who grew up in the Soviet Union know well their copybook is being repeated here", says Izabella. And Israel hate doesn’t distinguish between the Jewish State or its diaspora or your child, the institutions become anti-Zionist, so all Jews are suspect. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Zionist or not. They don’t even understand what Zionists are. When they speak about Zionists they mean you and me. The Iron Curtain hate of the Cold War-era has resurfaced in universities in the UK, US, Europe, and beyond — dressed up in modern language, but delivering the same chilling results: isolation, hostility, and erasure of Jewish identity. What does this mean for your son or daughter heading off in their first weeks away from home? How can families prepare? What lessons from Soviet refuseniks can help Jewish students thrive — or simply survive — in today's environment? Izabella breaks it down with unflinching clarity: the patterns, the propaganda echoes, and practical steps parents and students must take now. This isn't just history repeating — it's a wake-up call for the present. This is Izabella Tabarovsky. Jonny Gould's Jewish State is proudly supported by Dangoor Education and UK Toremet, promoting philanthropy. Find all of Jonny's podcasts, personal appearances and writing on ⁠Substack⁠ and support him with a ⁠coffee here⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

196: Michal Cotler-Wunsh: a headline masterclass in defining and tackling antisemitism.

Help support Jonny by buying him a coffee and find his Substack feed with all his podcasts and articles. What you’ll hear now in this short interview is a headline masterclass in defining and tackling antisemitism. If only I had longer, but our guest filled the room with shorthand wisdom of the deepest kind when we met during an antisemitism conference in Vienna where I was presented with a plethora of brilliant and courageous people. Vienna, the scene of my own family’s escape to Birmingham in 1938 and 1939 from Hitler’s European tyranny. Join us for a compelling conversation with Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Israel's former Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism, ex-Knesset member, and leading voice on the "oldest hatred" in its modern form. Born in Jerusalem, raised in Canada as stepdaughter to renowned human rights advocate Irwin Cotler, she returned to Israel for military service, law studies, and a career bridging academia, policy, and politics. Her PhD probed free speech limits on campuses—eerily prescient today. Since the October 7 attacks, Michal has spotlighted the surge in antisemitism, featured in the documentary Tragic Awakening: A New Look at the Oldest Hatred. She dissects how anti-Zionism mutates into mainstream Jew-hatred, the failures of the global response, and why this threat demands urgent action from everyone - and you. A must-listen on resilience, truth, and defending shared humanity. Jonny Gould's Jewish State is proudly supported by Dangoor Education and UK Toremet, supporting philanthropy. Help support Jonny by ⁠buying him a coffee⁠ and find his⁠ Substack⁠ feed with all his podcasts and articles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

195: London's "piece of Palestine on British soil", Starmer's Embassy is inaugurated.

Help Jonny's worldwide coverage of Jewish and Israeli stories. Buy him a morale boosting coffee here. And so it’s happened. There’s now a piece of Palestine on British soil. In Galena Road, a back street of Hammersmith. An interesting name for a Palestinian address. It’s a Sephardi Jewish surname for one. And archaeologists discovered a prehistoric trench under the modern office building on which this embassy now stands - the remnants of a Roman road. The Romans,conquerors of Jerusalem, destroyers of the Second Temple, which forced most of the indigenous Jews into exile. You decide if G-d has a sense of humour. Keir Starmer’s ill-conceived declaration of Palestine, which has led to this embassy and described by former prime minister Boris Johnson as a “fart in a gale” amounts to a staging post in the Palestinian pursuit to destroy the Jewish State. Starmer’s unleashed a persistent stink on the British people rather than a momentary pong. As the continuing Hamas protests ruin London’s premier shopping and entertainment thoroughfares, Starmer’s only served to embolden the keffiyeh-wearing terror supporters into Palestining our city centres on days off and threatening the daily lives of Jewish people as they go about communal prayer or dropping kids off at school. In a stroke, Starmer’s turned an office block off King St’s one-way system from a self-proclaimed mission to a full-blown embassy, with a Palestinian flag hoisted outside. “Palestine” has no internationally agreed boundaries, no capital and no army. No army of course, but for terrorist militias Hamas, Islamic Jihad and others. But now Starmer has gifted them the diplomatic credentials and privileges of every other state represented in London - now with the cloak of diplomatic protection to plan what Palestine is best known for. Starmer’s proclaimed vision for Palestine included a governing militia he freely calls a terrorist group, whatever he now says since Donald Trump’s decisive action to bring all but one of the remaining Israel’s hostages home from Gaza hell. So if you’re wandering down King Street in your kippah or tzitzis unlucky enough to take the wrong short cut to Ravenscourt Park tube, think twice about the route you take. Because the Palestine Embassy isn’t a peaceful diplomatic entity and by promoting it, Starmer’s contributed to importing the intifada to Britain’s streets. Here’s Hassan Zomlot, Palestine’s first Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Listen very closely to his words. Jonny Gould's Jewish State is supported by Dangoor Education and UK Toremet, promoting philanthropy. Find all of Jonny's podcasts and writing on his Substack. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

194: Bottling the Shock of Bondi as a Call for Action

Find Jonny's articles and all of his podcasts here. Support Jonny's efforts by buying him a coffee or two! The world moves on fast. The headline ticker keeps rolling, attention shifts, and even the most brutal moments are softened by the relentless pace of the news cycle. But for those left to mourn — and for Jewish communities across the global diaspora — the shock of Bondi has not faded. It’s hardened into fear. Fear driven by the perceived lack of action by western leaders against creeping Islamist incursions into the West, attacks that target Jews and threaten the very foundations of open societies themselves. This episode is an attempt to bottle that shock. To take you back to the moment you first heard the news — whether you woke up to it, saw it break during your day, or learned of it whichever time zone you’re in. To remind you how it felt as you lit your own Chanukah lights on day one. You’ll hear from eyewitnesses there as it unfolded collected from Sky News Australia. From a doctor, speaking anonymously who treated the dead and injured. From an Australian police officer on the scene. From Rabbi Levi Wolff of Sydney’s Central Synagogue. And from the highest levels of leadership in Israel — President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Plus as Chanukah drew to a close Premier of New South Wales Chris Minns, on the government’s response to the tragedy. We’ve since seen an unimaginable terror plot foiled in the UK, by Britain’s secret services for what can best be described as a Bataclan style massacre on Manchester’s Jewish communities. This is not about letting the Bondi moment pass. It’s about remembering it — clearly, honestly, however uncomfortably. Action on this international persecution of Jews must start now. Jonny Gould's Jewish State is proudly supported by Dangoor Education. Find Jonny's articles and all of his podcasts ⁠here⁠. Support Jonny's efforts by ⁠buying him a coffee⁠ or two! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

193: Kabylia's Declaration of Independence. As Jews around the world, we should care about this.

Find all of my podcasts, TV appearances and writing at my Substack. As westerners, as Jews, as supporters of Israel, we should know more about the Kabyle people, the largest of North Africa’s indigenous Amazigh groups, part of the Berber people. On December 14th 2025, Kabylia declared independence from Algeria. With their own language, culture, and a centuries-long tradition of autonomy, the Kabyle have maintained a distinct identity despite repeated periods of foreign rule and the oppression which always follows. Is there future at a turning point. Rogue state Algeria has sharply escalated its repression of the Kabyle people’s political, cultural, and religious life with churches forcibly closed and leaders in civil society facing escalating intimidation. Many detained without due process, and political expression increasingly criminalized. And now, in the midst of this pressure, Kabylia issued a Declaration of Independence. They believe in Britain’s moral authority and so a delegation came to our parliament in London. The delegation waited until the final hour to learn whether Paris-based President-in-Exile, Furhat Merhenni would receive his UK visa in time. But he didn’t get it. But the story moves forward. To understand what this moment means for Kabylia, for Algeria, and for the region, I spoke Murad Amellal, Chief of Staff to President Merhenni and his Special Envoy. In our conversation, he walks us through the stakes, the strategy, and the sentiment around the world as Kabylia approaches what he calls a defining chapter in its modern political journey. But there are big questions: * If the leadership isn’t physically there, what does a Declaration of Independence actually do in practice? * With the President-in-Exile, what happens next? * If the declaration were issued on Algerian soil, just how would Algeria move to suppress it? * How does President Merhenni’s role compare to leaders in Israel’s early statehood? Who is Ben-Gurion, Begin or Herzl? * And find out why the Kabyle people’s cultural, linguistic and religious background embrace western values not those of Islamic extremism. All that—and more—in my rangy conversation with Murad Amellal. Find all of my podcasts, TV appearances and writing at my ⁠Substack⁠. Jonny Gould's Jewish State is supported by Dangoor Education and UK Toremet, promoting philanthropy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices